From Dusk Till Dawn
by The10thMuffinMan
Summary: An Orphan child of Canalave city is thrown headfirst alongside an unusual partner into a Pokemon adventure they will never forget. During this time he will learn how to value friendship and come to terms with his past. A More mature but not overly dark Pokemon journey story across Sinnoh. Rated T for swearing and some violence but no lemons.
1. An Eventful Evening

**From Dusk Till Dawn**

**AN: Hi Everyone this is my first story that I've had in my head for a while and I'd really appreciate some reviews and how you think I should improve. This story is one which takes place in a more realistic pokemon world but not an incredibly dark one. This chapter is quite dark but the tone will only be this dark in a few chapters. By realistic I mean that certain things will be explained like the Nurse Joy system (I'm not going to go into intense scientific detail about everything as i find that often goes over my head) and there will be serious themes such as war but this isn't going to be filled with death and despair. It will be a story about a boy who has had a shit life learn to love and accept pokemon and others to improve myself. In many ways it will be a typical pokemon journey story just with some dark themes thrown in as it is aimed at a more mature audience than the anime. However it won't be like the 'dark stories' you see where everything is about death and despair, doom and gloom. The overarching story will simply be a bit darker than the anime and games but it will still feel like the world of the games or anime as I want readers to feel that they know the world i'm talking about. However there will be quite a bit of swearing i'm afraid. ANyway please leave a review it would mean the world and I hope you enjoy it!**

**The10thMuffinMan**

**Chapter 1**

***CRACK***

"**AARGH"**

…

"Did that just happen?"

…

"Is it dead?"

**...**

***CHEERS***

"FUCK YEAH!"

"I win, hand it over…"

It was this cacophony of sound that the young boy heard as he raised his head to the dim light shining down upon him. He wiped his brow only to look at his hands to see the wraps covering them soaked in blood, his own and his opponents no doubt. The Breloom unconscious in front of him was called back into its pokeball as its trainer silently glared at him and walked away, fuming. A scruffy, balding man wearing a filthy shirt 2 sizes too small walked into the arena towards the boy,handing him a wad of bills.

"Well done Dante, another win in the bag, here's your earnings then. Don't spend it all at once."

The Boy, now known as Dante, silently accepted his winnings and walked out of the rundown, crowded bar, pushing through the mob of drunks whilst counting his winnings in his head.

"_200 Poke, that should last me the week if I manage to haggle down my dinners to at least 25 poke a night. Goddammit who am i kidding this will last me 4 or 5 days better not be pulling one over me again that bastard ."_

He hissed as he pulled his ratty old jacket on, knowing that the Breloom must have cracked a couple of ribs in their fight and he knew that at least 2 of the fingers on his right hand were broken. But that was the nature of the underground fighting rings, a human would fight a pokemon to unconsciousness in order to make some quick cash. There usually wouldn't be any fatalities, as that drew the attention of the local coppers but now and again, there would be the usual accident. By all rights he, a 14 year old boy, should have stood no chance against a fighting type like a Breloom but the pokemon he fought was in terrible condition, underweight and sickly, probably forced to evolve at an early age but despite that it still packed a mean punch.

Making his way outside, he took a deep breath of the cool, evening air and made his way through Canalave city, looking around at the factories billowing out smoke as if the city itself was bragging about being the industrial capital of Sinnoh. But despite this, Dante could positively say it was a shithole to live. Having lived there his entire life as a street urchin, Dante had been all over the city and whilst certain areas may be somewhat respectable, such as the centre with its famous library, gym and bridge, the rest of the city was simply an industrial hub,filled with factories and apartment complexes. Dante ruminated on this as he made his way through the city, noticing that whilst he had been inside the bar, a sudden downpour appeared to have come and gone, leaving behind a damp and chill in its place, making the streets empty but the sky clear.

He eventually reached his destination, overlooking the Straits of Sinnoh, the name given to the 20 mile wide gap that separates isle of Canalave from the rest of Sinnoh, although those in the league may call it "Route 218," Not that anyone calls it that. Dante had always loved the sight of the bay, it seemed like the 1 peace of pure nature on this Arceus forsaken rock, with its gentle waves and strong sea breeze, Wingull cawing overhead and the clicking of cascoon and dustox as they woke for the night. Collapsing on a nearby Bench, the backside of his trousers getting wet, Dante stared into a puddle on the floor in front of him. He barely recognised the face that stared back, dirty blonde hair reached the back of his neck, covering his once bright blue eyes, now dulled by years of pain seemingly held up only by the large bags under them, various hairs randomly sprouting from his chin and if one looked closely they would see the faint marks which may once have been laugh lines but if they were, all that was left now was a faint impression.

"Yep, just your typical ruffian, parents hide your kids!"he muttered quietly, chuckling to himself at the idea that he looked exactly like the kind of guy most kids his age would be being warned about. This wasn't helped by the large shiner developing on his forehead.

He keeled over coughing, feeling like a machamp's personal punching bag, blood spattering the puddle he was gazing into, distorting his image, leaving a tangy, metallic taste in his mouth; it was nothing short of a miracle that he still had all his teeth.

"Argh fuck," he groaned, feeling his head spin as he pulled a couple of questionable painkillers from his pocket that he kept for situations like these and downed them, feeling them slowly slide down his throat uncomfortably. He leant back, closed his eyes and waited for the meds to kick in when…

"**DOOOOOOM"**

***CRASH***

"**CLOPS"**

***BANG***

Out of nowhere the signs of a battle near him caused him to shoot his feet,hissing at the pain in his side as he turned his head towards the noise coming from the nearby trees debating on what to do. Against his better judgement he made his way into the small grove, pushing aside branches to witness what could only be described as a massacre. In The middle of a clearing stood a lone Dusclops, its arms held out wide in front of it, preparing a shadow ball as it faced down a Houndoom and its trainer, an older man with a thick, black beard and a cowboy hat.

"_Poacher," _he realised, _"But what is he doing so close to the city, it can only be 10 minutes away, this doesn't make sense. Normally they stick to the wilds and rural areas with less police, not on the outskirts of cities."_ He was brought out of his musing when he saw a flamethrower send the dusclops backwards towards, where he noticed, another dusclops lay, dead as its red eye was not glowing and visible. The houndoom then pounced upon the defenceless dusclops.

When he saw this he felt a burning rage settle upon him, red mist clouded his eyes ashe charged forwards almost bounding towards the poacher slamming a fist into the side of his head, knocking him out cold. As the houndoom got up from its current prey, Dante grabbed the pokeball hanging off the poacher's belt, hurriedly pressing the button on the front hoping it would work as he had seen.

Fortunately it did as a redbeam struck the houndoom and pulled it into the ball. Dante dropped the ball and rushed over to the 2 dusclops's to check on their condition. He didn't know why he felt such a need to protect these pokemon, he just felt a tug in his gut that he should. As he suspected the one he had seen lying first was dead, there was no light in it's red, ruby eye. But the other one, the one he had seen try to fight was still alive, but barely as it suddenly gripped his coat with a grip like iron and then seemed to look behind him. As he turned he saw a small shadow push him over and press its face into the dusclops chest.

"_A Duskull he realised, they must have been protecting it." _It made a heartbreaking, keening sound followed by repeated high pitched "dusk dusk, DUSK DUSSSUUUUSSKK!" As it was now bashing his face into its mother's chest. Dante simply sat there, not knowing what to do until he almost unknowingly placed his hand on its head, trying to convey some form of comfort to the small pokemon. It turned around, burying its face in his chest, weeping and he could see that now the mother to was dead.

A sudden rustling drew his attention and as he turned around he saw that the poacher was getting to his feet,doing his best to stay quiet but now he had been seen he stood up to his full height and looked at him with a look of pure hatred.

"YOU LITTLE SHIT! I'LL TEAR YOU LIMB FROM LIMB. HOUNDOOM, RIP THIS FUCKER TO SHREDS!" He spat, sending the dark/fire pokemon started towards fim.

Gripping the petrified duskull to his chest, Dante sprinted through the trees which whipped his face and clothes, having a slight advantage as the houndoom tripped but as he ducked under a branch he felt a burning warmth pass above his head. The wet wood was all that prevented a forest fire from killing all the pokemon in the near vicinity. With that he sprinted towards the edge of the treeline but came to a sudden halt as his stomach dropped. He had not come out where he entered but on a small cliff face where he was trapped by a pissed off houndoom on one side, and a 20 ft drop on the other.

He turned around when he saw his pursuers emerge from the trees, the houndoom looking to pounce but the poacher held it back.

"Listen son, I fink there's been a slight misunderstanding but i'll tell you what, i'll let you live so long as you give me that sweet little Ghostie you got there okay," the poacher said in a sickly voice which was somewhat marred by the slight lisp he now had due to him now missing a couple of teeth.

"Fuck you!" Dante shouted back, clinging the now shivering but surprisingly warm ghost type to his chest.

"Ah you got spunk kid but that aint gonna help you so i suppose i'll just take him off you the hard way, houndoom, BITE!"

The horned canine approached him and Dante realised that he was terrified, up until now the only pokemon he had fought were weak, mistreated and not fit for battle but this houndoom was the real deal, its left eye was welded shut by a scar and its body was definitely not underfed, it was 80 lb of pure muscle and ferocity; this was a trained fighter and he didn't stand a chance. As it pounced at him he closed his eyes holding up his left arm to defend himself as he curled his right over the small ghost type and then he was suddenly on his back and his left arm felt like it was on fire, he opened his eyes to see it was being held like a chew toy by this beast which to his eyes looked like a demon.

Terrified and without thinking, Dante began to struggle through the pain, pure adrenaline keeping him alive. He didn't wasn't to die and with that blind panic encompassing his thoughts he almost didn't feel the pain, almost didn't feel the blood dripping onto his face until suddenly he felt a shake underneath him and then he and the 2 pokemon with him fell into the icy depths below...


	2. A Rude Awakening

**From Dusk Till Dawn**

**AN: Hi everyone, MuffinMan here with Chapter 2. Thanks for those of you who have favorited/followed my story. I didn't expect all the warnings about certain users that i got from around 2 or 3 different people but thanks for the warning. As I said before, whilst this story is a bit more dark than the anime or games it is mainly about the character growth of the main character and will still follow standard pokemon journey memo but without any over the top stuff like many other stories like this such as becoming a pokemon, merging with pokemon and Arceus probably won't make an appearance. Legendary's will be featured but none will be truly captured as I think that doesn't fit with their theme at all, they are free spirits, who stay away from humans except for a select few. So he will meet them but it will be very rare and a life-changing experience and he definitely will not capture them. This is my first story anywhere so I'd appreciate all the reviews and advice you give so long as any criticisms are constructive. Also message me if you have any questions. Anyway, here we go!**

**Chapter 2**

Faces poked through the murk, they faded in and out of the injured boy's sight, gazed intently at his face, asking questions that he couldn't understand, sounding as if they were underwater. He fell into blackness.

…

…

...

He woke again a bit more clear. Now he understood the questions, who was he? Where did it hurt? Did he know who he was? He tried to answer but his mouth didn't cooperate. He heard a beeping noise and all of a sudden there is a flurry of movement. His eyes rolled backwards and he fell back into Cressilias embrace.

…

…

When he came to all was silent. Looking around, he saw that the room was dark, almost pitch black aside from a red light in the corner of the room. At his noticing of the light, it rushed towards him till it was hanging above head like some ominous guide. Framed in the red glow he could make out a white skull seemingly gazing into his soul. It felt as if time had stopped as he and the skull held each other's gaze. Then everything happened at once as it suddenly started to screech,

"DUSK! DUSK!"

At this the world seemed to be engulfed in light as if an ampharos had cast flash in his face and as he blinked his eyes clear of the bright spots in his vision he now saw a pink, egg like creature looking over him. "CHANSEY! CHANCE!"

"What's that chansey? He's awake?" a female voice said. "Here, let me have a look." The being now known as Chansey moved out of his vision and was replaced by that of a woman, perhaps 30 or so. She had a pretty, but plain face that was framed by brunette hair that reached her shoulders. She told him her name was Eve "Like, the Pokemon, but my only evolution gives me wrinkles," she joked. "You've had a tough time of it haven't you? You wouldn't have been found if your little friend here hadn't been crying as loud as he was. Now what's your name?" With a great amount of trouble he managed to rasp out a faint.

"Dante. Dante Pearce."

"Well then Dante Pearce. We can talk more in the morning. I'll let you 2 sleep.

As her and the chancey left, turning the light off he settled closed his eyes but suddenly realised what she'd said 2? What did she mean by that? Looking around he saw once again that red glow and the skull sulking in the corner. He tried to focus on that face, trying to remember where he knew and then suddenly it all came rushing back. The clearing, the dead dusclops, the poacher and that houndoom leaping towards him, teeth sinking into his arm as he fell screaming of the cliff edge. All of a sudden the room was too claustrophobic, the bedding too tight, the silence too loud. He tried to breathe but nothing seemed to be coming in and he tried to get out of his prison, tears clouding his eyes as he felt his chest crushed. He had to get away. The Houndoom would get him, there was too much risk staying still. He wasn't safe. Then a light weight press itself to his chest pushing him down but this one was different, it was warm and felt like an anchor, bring him back to reality. He reached out, placing his hand on the weight. It was hard, but soft, like fabric. He daren't remove his hand, otherwise he may be crushed again and as his breathing slowed and the tears that he didn't realise he had shed dried on his cheeks he simply breathed and held on to that comforting weight.

His arm burned, and it was with this thought that he opened his eyes the next morning, attempting to move but finding that he couldn't. He looked down to realise that the reason for this was the snoring duskull currently taking residence upon his chest. There was something quite surreal about seeing a ghost with the face of a skull snoring gently, using him as a giant pillow. Ghost types were the most alienated of types, with many people being put off by there almost ethereal nature, with their ability to shift between their physical form and one which can phase their solid objects but looking at the pokemon taking residence upon him, he realised that they were no different than other pokemon, not really. They weren't even ghosts, that was just a myth which has lasted for centuries.

He was dragged from his thoughts to his room opening to the chansey from last night pushing a tray covered in various equipment in, followed by a stern, squat, 60 something-ish nurse that looked at him, raising an eyebrow and stating. "Well as you seem to be up, we can start testing you now and whilst your at it you can tell me how you managed to end up washed on the beach with multiple fractures, internal bleeding, a ruptured spleen and with an arm that looks like an arcanine's chew toy. Not to mention a wild duskull that absolutely refuses to leave your side.

"Houndoom, actually.." he grunted, wincing as the arm in question sent a flare of pain up his arm, almost as if to remind him that it was there.

"Ah it speaks, i was worried you were either mute, or an idiot, although the latter is still in the question. Now hold still while I check your blood pressure, you were on the brink of death when we found you, we spent all night trying to fix you up. Chansey hasn't used that many Heal pulses on a human in almost a decade and that was a garchomp attack. So You owe us all a lot of flowers and chocolates."

"I always thought that Nurse Joy's were meant to be kind and caring. Did you miss the memo?"

"Hah! At least your brain survived, or your tongue at least" She barked, "If you wanted a bubbly personality you should have made sure you woke up fully during the night shift, then you'd get Eve, she even has the skimpy dress, but i'm afraid she's engaged so bad luck on that front."

He opened his mouth to ask where he was but before he could she held a single finger up as she fitted the equipment around his arm. "Now I'm sure you have a lot of questions Mr Pearce so I'll get them out of the way now, to save us both the time. I'm nurse Ariel, the day-time shift nurse joy whilst Eve who I believe your acquainted with is the night-shift nurse. You're at the Chocovine Town Pokemon centre, on the coast about 20 miles west of Floaroma Town. You were found last sunday on the beach in a right state, with that duskull clinging to you like a dwebble screeching enough to raise the dead. Today's friday so would you care to explain how you ended up that way and don't pull the amnesia route cause you definitely know. I see that in your eyes and I haven't got time to listen to half-baked lies by some ."

He then spent the next 15 minutes explaining what had happened from getting to the cliff.

"... And now i'm stuck here with your sterling company, wondering what I did in some past life to piss Arceus off this much."

"That's some tale you got there kid. I normally wouldn't believe anyone would be that thick but that duskull of your's isn't leaving me with any other options, considering that he isn't registered to a trainer and that evolutionary line are very rare to bond with humans, never mind ones that have grown up in the wild. But damn hunters so close to the city, the police will want to know about this too. They were probably after their eyes. Dusk eyes are collected by trophy hunters and sold on the black market but still… Anyway aren't your parents worried about you kid."

"Their dead."

"Guardians."

"No one. I'm an urchin, a street grookey, anyone who would care is dead." He almost shouted, growing more uncomfortable by the second.

"I wouldn't say that. Your new friend would be devastated for a start" she stated, pointing at the duskull hovering at his bedside, doing his best impression of a kicked growlithe. Noticing this, he asked Ariel,

"What's gonna happen to the little guy."

She put her hand on her chin and simply asked "How old are you?"

"I was 14 last month"

"14 huh. That makes you eligible for a trainers licence if. As a nurse Joy I could set you up with a temporary license until august which is when you can see Professor Rowan for the big send off with all the other trainers…"

"Whoa, whoa whoa, don't you think that's a bit quick. I mean he's nice and all but he's just lost his parents and I'm currently stuck as a cripple…"

"All right, All right, don't get so wound up, it was just a suggestion. And your not crippled, at least if you are it's only mentally. You will need to be in Physio for your legs which should take a month or 2 however you'll probably be on a cane till christmas as your left leg was quite badly damaged in the fall. However your arm should be alright in a couple of weeks just so long as you don't decide to take anymore impromptu swimming lessons."

"Don't worry I'll stick to rock climbing. They don't make you wear a speedo to take part."

"Just remember that me and Eve have to pick out your outfits so if you even think about it I will find you the tightest pair of chatot smugglers I can get my hands on and this is a seaside town so I'm perfectly capable of finding something." She stated calmly with a sudden manic look in her eye.

"Alright alright i'll just have to make sure you don't find me doing it." She didn't dignify that with a response. She merely stated, "I've got better things to do than deal with idiot children babble nonsense. Just think on what I suggested alright?" She then took herself off, like some kind of hurricane and Dante came to the conclusion that maybe rock climbing would not be the best idea.

Duskull decided that this was the best time to fly in and give him a flying-tackle hug, knocking the wind out of him and possibly leaving a bruise. Realising his mistake, the Duskull simply floated up and down in the air, head down but still staring at him hopefully, simultaneously both sheepish and exited. Despite his better judgement telling him he was better off alone, he found himself saying "Alright then, I'll think about it but i'll need to give you a name. Any ideas?" The small ghost type then left the room in the blink of an eye and returned just as quickly holding a book of local stories, pointing at the picture of the vampire prince who set out to avenge his dead father using his Honedge blade.

"Alucard, huh. You may want to avenge your parents, but you don't look very ferocious." He seemed to take offence at this, using the blanket on top of his duvet to make an impromptu cape but merely ended up get himself stuck in a pile on the floor. He phased through the pile, not looking Dante in the eye. He couldn't help it. He'd later blame it on his weakened state but he burst out laughing, his eyes tearing up and his sides hurting but he hadn't stopped. This was the most he'd laughed in years and it hurt. Just the sheer absurdity of the situation and the need for something positive Dante curled up with laughter and once he got over his embarrassment, Alucard joined in, his body trembling and then whizzed around the room, happy at his new best friend.

Unseen to the two of them, from the doorway, a silver-haired nurse watched the two with a small smile and went off to prepare the paperwork for the temporary trainer license. She knew that those two would be good for eachother and that they would go far. But she wouldn't say anything about that, it would be much more enjoyable to watch them figure it out on their own.


End file.
